Google E-mail Uploader Makes Switching to GMail Easy

Google's mail uploader allows you to instantly move messages from your current mail account to Gmail with a few clicks and your login information, without worrying if a failed copy will result in lost e-mail.

I made the switch from my Web host managing my e-mail to Google Apps for my domain so that I could use Gmail to manage, index, and search my mail for all of my domains. Gmail's spam protection, filtering, and Webmail access is leaps and bounds better than the Squirrelmail interface my host provides, and their buggy IMAP server. I just wish I'd had the new Google E-mail Uploader when I made the switch, so I wouldn't have had to shift-click, drag, and drop handfuls of messages at a time between accounts set up in my mail client.

Google's mail uploader allows you to instantly move messages from your current mail account to Gmail with a few clicks and your login information, without worrying if a failed copy will result in lost e-mail.

The Google E-mail Uploader has been around in Windows for a while, but Google recently unveiled a version of the app that works on the Mac as well. If you're currently using IMAP or POP to get your mail and you're using a desktop e-mail client like Thunderbird, Eudora, Apple Mail on the Mac, or Outlook on the PC, the utility can scan your mail store for messages and upload them to another IMAP or POP enabled GMail account hosted on your domain.

Once you have the utility installed, all you have to do is put in the account information for your hosted GMail account and your old mail server, and the uploader will take care of the rest. The app scans your old mailbox for folders and mail, and will allow you to choose specific folders and mailboxes to transfer.

When you're finished making your selections, just click to transfer and the app will log in to your old account, snag the messages you want to move, and then log in to your new Google hosted account and move them to their new locations. Unfortunately the uploader doesn't retain folder structure or organization; it simply uploads your messages and creates a new label called "imported" under which all of the mail is filed.

Google's mail uploader is an excellent tool for people who want an easy way to move from their old mail account, even if it's already hosted by another Webmail provider, to Gmail hosted on their own domain. The app is free, and works in Windows XP and Vista, and Mac OS 10.4 or later.

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